Browse Corrections Articles

In the past several months, inmates have escaped custody during transportation. Because the escapes have been fatal to the transporting officers and dangerous to the public - and because they put the media spotlight squarely on the faces of administrators, corrections experts are taking a long, hard at inmate transportation. We're corrections experts, and in this article we look at transportation ...

In defensive tactics for policing, we're always looking for ways to control (that operative word is bolded on purpose) the behaviorally challenged individual. Unfortunately, not all wrists come in a convenient size to fit our handcuffs. Many people with slender wrists, particularly juveniles, are able to slip out of the cuffs despite our best efforts to do the right things. This ...

High Risk Security Patrol Here's an exercise for all you corrections news junkies out there: Google search the news headlines for the past month. You'll quickly pick up on a theme that is alarming corrections professionals nationally and internationally: Increasing escapes, disturbances, and inmate on staff attacks. Don't think this stuff happens in a vacuum: The public knows what's happening (thankfully, ...

Is Your Team Prepared To Handle These Types of Operations? Caution: don't read this article if you are weak hearted or get queasy easily. I'm going to discuss hostage rescue. It's a popular subject among many teams we talk to. I'm not talking about the sexy, heroic movie stuff with villains and saviors, but the real world - life and death ...

Often we feel that we can challenge the leadership of a team because the program is not going the way we want it to go. Before you challenge any leadership you must ask yourself: Is this a battle worth fighting because in the final analysis you want to win the war. Sometime your battle can divert the team’s focus. Sometimes your ...

Progressive Training - that is, training centered on multiple threat operations - appears to be gaining traction in the CERT world. Thankfully, the days of "hats and bats" are over; nowadays teams are focusing their budgets and training time on becoming proficient with leaner, meaner and more flexible equipment. For traditional large teams, which are in most cases overloaded with obsolete ...

Taking Your Team to the Next Level the Right Way "Our team is CHRT trained and we sent a couple of guys to SWAT school." This statement should cause every administrator and CERT Commander great concern. Countless units are operating under the false impression that they are ready to handle responsibilities as difficult as corrections hostage rescue with minimal training and ...

Over the last year we have heard of operators blowing out their knees due to slipping on wet surfaces in their correctional facilities. We’ve heard complaints of “tactical boots” by companies that make other things beside shoes that are falling apart, slippery and or provide little to no comfort but look cool. We tested a number of boots from a manufacturer ...

Why You Need CTN-Certified Gear My lawyers tell me I should start this article with a disclaimer, but I don't think the serious operators who read this publication need a disclaimer. I think you'll agree with what I've written below, even though it's critical of our profession. Like you, I understand the challenges we face, because like you, I've been the ...

Intro 0600, the beginning of another day in Anywhere Correctional Institution. Breakfast is being served. Inmate 206 - with whom you have never had a problem - approaches a CO. In an instant, Inmate 206 and his well-trained accomplices pull the officer into a housing unit. Several COs respond; they are outnumbered as well. The housing unit door is barricaded and ...

Operators this section is meant to cause you to think about how you're training and how you're documenting your training. Trainers, commanders and operators, because you wear the big CERT, SOG, SOU, ESU, PERT, SAT, SORT, SWAT and the dozens of other acronyms on your chest you better be prepared to back it up in court. This is not meant to ...

Who would you say are the top teams in the special operations community (regardless of law enforcement, military or corrections)? Delta, Navy Seals, British SAS, Singapore Ghurkas, LAPD D-Platoon, Dallas SWAT, NYPD ESU or the NYPD Hercules Unit, Alexandra SOT VA, Fairfax County, Chicago PD SWAT German GSG9… The list could go on and on, along with plenty of passionate arguments. ...

You're conducting a routine inventory of your CERT gear when the emergency call goes out: "Fire in the laundry, CERT members report to ready room for immediate deployment." Your internal security cameras and reports from officers who have fled the area reveal a situation that is on the verge of getting out of control: Inmates have set a grease fire, the ...

Every team should have a medic. The problem in the past is that medics have been ignored. Until recently, teams have simply adopted medics. Many CERT - SOU Tier 1 and Tier 2 teams throughout the country now incorporate combat medics that are certified from PA, EMT's, Full Paramedics, or etc. These men are often the team's lifeline. With responsibilities for ...

This section is strictly for Leadership – what I am about to say to you may not be kind or even politically correct. As I look back at the past decade of training Prison / Jail Special Operations Units I treasure the times that I spend with the countless commander. I look back now and see how many commanders I have ...

When we talk about leadership, we generally refer to a leader as a person of character. As facilities embrace the progressively trained model of team composition, some say you must respect the rank instead of the man. Although I cannot disagree with this, I also say that to respect the rank and ignore the man behind the rank is to drive ...

In correctional facilities of all sizes, illegal drugs are one of the most popular forms of contraband and currency. For staff, they're a scourge that eludes virtually all attempts at eradication or even reduction. For CERT operators, inmates who peddle or use illegal drugs are frequently the cause of extreme violence. That's why one of the most effective tools in the ...

"We put operators in little tasks that are monumental to an operator, but are trivial to us" This means that we are responsible to ensure the smooth growth of our operators and we, as trainers, should strive to have our operators be the best, even if that means they are better than us in some areas of operations. Don't be threatened, ...

There are many teams that have spent money blindly or ignorantly, and teams that purchase equipment based on find-the-cheapest mentality. These teams do not do service to their responsibility. I have also seen professional teams like MN DOC SOG, CT DOC SOG, San Joaquin SO, Solano CSO, who make the correct decisions, even when difficult, regarding staffing and equipment. These units ...

You Can Get There from Here! In the April CERT e-letter, you saw a chart that broke down the equipment and operational capabilities of CERT units from levels one to four. We shared that chart with you because during the past two years, our trainers have identified a promising trend in CERT operations: Team self-audits. I am encouraged by the increasing ...